


words are all i have

by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Erica Reyes, Alive Vernon Boyd, M/M, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Single Parent Derek Hale, Sterek Secret Santa, Writer Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 18:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5550629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/triggeringthehealing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That was how Stiles found out about Derek’s presence in the publishing house, about Derek having settled in San Francisco, and about almost everything else in the werewolf’s life.<br/><i>Almost</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	words are all i have

**Author's Note:**

  * For [howl-to-the-wind (greenleaf)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenleaf/gifts).



> This fic is a gift from the Sterek Secret Santa 2015 exchange for [Lee](http://howl-to-the-wind.tumblr.com/). Happy holidays!
> 
> Now also with photoset [here](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/post/136042037359/words-are-all-i-have-sterek-g-ao3-37k-that).

When Derek Hale waltzed back into Beacon Hills, Stiles was utterly unprepared. Not because he had no warning, or because they hadn’t seen each other in years, because they had been occasionally talking to each other via email and text ever since Derek left on his quest to track down the Desert Wolf way back.

So Stiles knew Derek was coming back, that he’d bought back the Hale land from the County, and built a new house — not in the same spot as the old mansion used to be, and not the same size, though still considerably spacious — in the Preserve. Stiles also knew that Derek now worked in publishing, and that he was opening a satellite office of the publisher he worked for in Beacon Hills. Derek told him that with several publishing deals with people in the area, it made sense that an office would be there, instead of making everyone travel to San Francisco for meetings.

None of that was a shock, especially since Stiles was one of the authors signed to that publishing house, along with Boyd and Lydia. Boyd, after returning to Beacon Hills to finish high school, ended up writing a series of mystery novels that no one outside of the former Hale pack or those surrounding it would link to Beacon Hills. As it turned out, he wasn’t _killed_ by Derek’s claws during their encounter with Kali and the Alpha Pack, but merely lost his werewolf powers and reverted back to being human, and he used the time he was away from town to process through his change by writing. Those who lived through the Alpha Pack, Peter, Japanese fox spirits, more Peter, and everything else that the Nemeton threw in their direction, could see hints of their “adventures” in his novels. Even without the werewolf factor, the books were popular enough to warrant multiple sequels, and Boyd was financially set for the future.

Lydia not only went on to get her Fields Medal, but also dipped a toe into the writing world, and came out — to no one’s surprise — victorious. Her science fiction, with a prominent disclaimer about its scientific accuracy, was a hit in multiple critical circles, and had spawned an entire movie franchise.

With two hugely popular authors it was almost inevitable that the publishing house — Alpha Den — would cater to them specifically. Even if Lydia didn’t live in Beacon Hills permanently, Boyd did, because a year or so after most of the pack graduated, Erica showed up. Still a werewolf, a little rougher and a lot shaken after her run-in with the Alpha Pack, she’d been in hiding until things settled in town, and her missing years were explained by a tale of a kidnapping and several white lies about where she’d been.

When Stiles finished the police academy, he wasn’t entirely sure where he wanted to go. With his Dad finally retired, and with Parrish in his place as the local Sheriff — Hellhounds apparently had pretty strong control, which allowed him to hold that position without giving himself and anything else supernatural away — the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department had a spot practically reserved for him. Stiles didn’t bother looking elsewhere, because he figured that a year or two of practical experience was bound to help him look for a different job later. It was Lydia who derailed his plans by bringing a crime thriller he was writing as a side project for years to Alpha Den when her own books guaranteed that her suggestions would be noted.

That was how Stiles found out about Derek’s presence in the publishing house, about Derek having settled in San Francisco, and about almost everything else in the werewolf’s life.

_Almost_.

There was one thing that somehow never came up, something that Derek didn’t mention, and neither did Lydia or Boyd, though they met with Derek more often than anyone else.

“Sofia!” Derek’s voice carried across the parking lot in front of the building where Alpha Den’s office had been set up a week earlier.

Stiles was still in his Jeep, a new one he bought with his first advance after signing with the Den, an updated version of Roscoe. The old Jeep — a reminder of the good and the bad — was no longer functional, though Stiles couldn’t part ways with it yet, and had it parked in his Dad’s garage since it finally broke down for the last time.

There was a school right next to the office block, and Stiles watched as Derek reached into the backseat of his car, and pulled out a school bag that obviously belonged to the flurry of pink and glitter that had dashed out towards the gate moments ago. It was what prompted the shout of her name, one that Stiles had not heard before from anyone. For a second, he wondered if the girl belonged to Cora, but logic immediately contradicted that thought. Cora had been in Beacon Hills for years, almost since the pack’s first graduation, only leaving when Isaac — who returned from France to graduate with everyone — had obligations elsewhere.

The little girl looked to be about four, and from what Stiles knew about Derek, there was no way she was Derek’s. And yet, by the way they acted as Stiles was watching them, there was definitely a familiarity that he recognized from other parent-child interactions in his life.

“Laura Sofia Hale!” Derek spoke loudly enough for Stiles to hear, as they came closer to where he was parked.

“Sorry,” the girl replied, though she didn’t sound apologetic at all.

Derek frowned, and handed her the school bag before he held out a hand and waited until she reached for it. They walked past the gate, and Stiles’ mind was left reeling. _Laura Sofia_ , he repeated to himself, his stomach sinking as he realized why Derek was using her middle name.  

Before he managed to clear his mind and drive away so Derek wouldn’t think he was being spied on, there was a tap on the Jeep’s window on the passenger side, and it made Stiles jump. He rolled the window down, and he was met with a very familiar frowning expression in Derek’s face. For a second, Stiles felt like being thrown back several years, back to that afternoon in the Preserve when Derek warned him and Scott about it being private property.

“Hey Stiles,” Derek said, instead of any of the words expressing his anger that Stiles was expecting. “Did the duct tape finally run out?”

There was a smirk on Derek’s lips that caught Stiles off guard, almost more than the sight of him with the little girl earlier. Stiles opened his mouth, but despite his brain’s flurry of activity, he had absolutely no comeback to Derek’s teasing.

“That’s what it takes to shut you up?” Derek said after a moment of silence. “I wish I’d known that years ago.”

Stiles, still not quite able to process the Derek he was seeing and hearing — he briefly considered witchcraft, but then shook off the panic that followed the thought — just stared, and tried to stop himself from blurting all the questions he had on the tip of his tongue.

_Who’s the girl? Is she yours? When did you get a sense of humor? How are you even hotter than I remember you? Do you know you’re killing me here with all the smiles and the kid thing?_

His mouth opened, but almost immediately closed again as he stared at the unexpectedly bright smile that lit up Derek’s face in ways that Stiles was unable to handle. He was used to Derek’s frowning, the permanent grumpy face that barely ever changed. The only times that Stiles saw a smile on Derek’s face was when they were faked, and when Derek was trying to charm his way into something. None of them looked like the one slightly hidden behind the almost artful stubble on Derek’s jaw.

“Come on,” Derek said, since Stiles was still stuck trying to figure out the person he was looking at and somehow match it to the Derek Hale he knew. “I’m guessing you’re here for the office opening?”

Stiles nodded in response, and slowly got out of his Jeep, his mind reeling. He only half-listened to Derek as they walked towards the offices, but he caught words like “meetings” and “schedule” and other work-related details that he wasn’t able to deal with the way Derek probably expected him to. The situation didn’t change when they made it inside the lobby of Alpha Den, a spacious and inviting area that — Stiles figured it was somehow connected to Sofia — had a corner area with kids’ tables and chairs, with crayons and coloring books set out. He was still looking around the room in amazement when his gaze landed on a door just past the receptionist’s desk, and he narrowed his eyes at the name plate.

_Derek Hale, Alpha Den, CEO_

“You…” Stiles started saying, and he turned to Derek. “AD is _yours_?”

In all the time that Stiles has been hearing about Alpha Den, all the years that Lydia has been signed with the house, not to mention all through Boyd’s success trajectory, Stiles always thought the publishing house was Derek’s _employer_. Sure, he did poke fun at the name, and at the “I’m the Alpha now” connection from their past, but somehow, the fact that Derek ran the entire company never came up.

“You didn’t know?” Derek said, his eyebrows scrunched in a frown. “Stiles, you signed the contracts, my name was on those.”

“Yeah, but…”

He paused, slowly realizing that it should have clicked, that it wasn’t something that — as his brain poked at moments ago — his friends kept a secret deliberately.

“I can’t explain how I didn’t know that,” Stiles admitted sheepishly.

Derek shook his head and the smile returned to his face, knocking Stiles a little sideways again.

“But, if you run the place, won’t they miss you being around in the headquarters?” Stiles said a few beats later, mostly to fill the silence that unnerved him.

“Not when the HQ is here now,” Derek shrugged. “Between Lydia, Boyd, and you, the core of our author pool is in Beacon Hills, even if some of you are only here part-time,” he said, referring to Lydia.

“So is Danny moving back too?” Stiles asked.

Between all the disasters that happened in Beacon Hills, none of them had noticed that Danny packed up and left town before their senior year. It was only when Stiles started his talks with Alpha Den that he was told that Danny had been living in San Francisco since high school. There were apologies, explanations, a lot of catching up, and eventually Danny was assigned to Stiles as his main editor.

“Yeah, about that,” Derek said, and Stiles’ eyes widened at the expression that could only be described as sheepish. “He didn’t actually edit all of your work.”

Before Stiles could ask for more explanations, the front door swung open, and the breeze that rushed in was followed by a flurry of blonde curls. Erica’s bright smile was reminiscent of the predatory one she’d used when Derek first turned her, and Stiles felt a chill run down his spine. He didn’t get a chance to lose himself in memories of what he called “the dark days” occasionally, because the moment her eyes landed on Derek and him, the smile softened.

“Batman!”

“Catwoman!” Stiles countered automatically, the nicknames a staple in their interactions.

Erica pulled him in for a hug, and her smile only disappeared when she pulled away and directed her gaze at Derek.

“You,” she said, and her tone was unmistakably accusatory. “You’re early. You’re _never_ early, for anything. You haven’t been early in three years. What gives?”

“Is that a way to talk to your boss?” Derek asked, but he sounded almost playful, which threw Stiles for yet another loop.

“Pssh,” Erica tossed her curls over her shoulder, and shook her head at him before she headed for the reception desk. “It’s only the truth, you know I give you earlier times for meetings so that you actually make it on time. Even though Boyd and Lydia wouldn’t mind.”

There was a blush creeping up Derek’s neck, and between watching the interaction that was happening in front of him, and trying to connect pieces of the puzzle of Erica’s words, Stiles still managed to notice.

“I guess I’m adding Stiles’ meetings to that pile now,” Erica muttered, and it was only because he was close enough that Stiles heard her. “Unless we’re still stuck with the ‘Danny’ smokescreen.”

“About that…” Stiles started, and he looked Derek in the eyes, questions already forming in his mind.

If Danny wasn’t his full-time editor, Stiles wondered who was. He thought back on some of the notes on his chapters, the comments and conversations that occasionally made him wonder if _Danny_ was flirting with him. To match those words to Derek was proving impossible, regardless of how expansive Stiles’ imagination was. There were some things that he had filed in the “forever a fantasy” category, and Derek interacting with him in ways that could be considered flirting was on the top of that pile.

They didn’t get a chance to start the topic though, because the door opened again, and in what felt like minutes, the lobby of Alpha Den was filled to the brim with people. Cora was the first to breeze in, followed almost immediately by Lydia who was dragging a grumbling Jackson inside. Stiles thought he could see about half of the Sheriff’s department, and a few of the BHHS teachers — including Coach Finstock and Lydia’s Mom. Stiles said his hellos to everyone he knew, got introduced to a few people he didn’t meet before — Derek did bring some of the staff from the old office, apparently — and soon enough, he had enough interaction for the day.

“Hey son,” John Stilinski joined Stiles in the corner that Stiles had claimed as his refuge from people.

“Hey Dad,” Stiles nodded in response, and he leaned against the wall behind him.

“What’s got your mind boggled?” John asked, and Stiles wished for a second that his Dad weren’t one to get right to the point.

“Derek’s my editor,” he blurted before he had a chance to filter his thoughts. “Derek _owns_ Alpha Den. Derek has a _kid_.”

The words were out, and Stiles still didn’t feel like anything that he just voiced was real.

“That’s a lot of Derek in there,” John said with a teasing tone. “Is there something you want to tell me, kid?”

“I don’t…” Stiles started, and he sat up to look at John properly. “I don’t know.”

Before either of them could continue the conversation, the door flew open again, and Stiles watched as Sofia darted inside, making a beeline for Derek. She was in the air, safely held by Derek’s arms, the next moment, her face buried in the werewolf’s neck seconds later. Stiles couldn’t tear his gaze away from the pair, not even when Derek’s eyes found him.

“Maybe now is the time to figure it out,” Stiles heard his Dad say as he watched Derek walk over to where they were sitting. “I’ll leave you two to it.”

“Stiles, this is Laura Sofia Hale,” Derek said when he sat down in the spot that John emptied. “She goes by Sofia, and she’ll be a nice girl and say ‘hi’, right?”

The last words were accompanied by a pointed look from Derek, and an indignant huff from Sofia, who peeked at Stiles.

“What’sa Stiles?” she asked, and Stiles couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’m a Stiles,” he said, and while his mind was still reeling, he smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Sofia.”

“You smell funny,” she said then, and Derek’s eyes flew wide open.

He didn’t get a chance to reprimand her, because she jumped off his lap immediately, and dashed towards Cora, who was holding a plate with what looked like a sandwich, and calling Sofia’s name.

“I’m sorry,” Derek muttered after a moment. “She’s a werewolf, obviously, and we’re not yet at a stage where she knows _when_ she can blurt things like that.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Stiles said quietly, the myriad of questions from earlier running through his mind again.

“No, it’s not, but…” Derek hesitated, but then he stood up and held out a hand towards Stiles. “Come on, I’ll explain, but somewhere with fewer ears listening in,” he said, and he glanced towards the reception desk, where Erica was doing a very poor job of pretending she wasn’t trying to overhear their conversation. “The offices are soundproofed,” Derek added, and Stiles watched Erica’s — and moments later Cora’s — face show disappointment.

He followed Derek into the office that had the sign that still had his mind spinning, and only when the door closed behind his back did he realize that his hand was still in Derek’s.

“So, uh,” Stiles started, but the questions were so muddled in his mind, that nothing came out.

“I’m sorry,” Derek blurted instead, and Stiles’ eyes met his. “I know you’re you, which means you probably have some questions…”

“Some, yeah,” Stiles said, in a moment of clarity amidst the confusion he was feeling.

“Let me just,” Derek said, and he sighed as he leaned against the desk, tugging Stiles a little closer, though their hands were still the only point of contact. “I’ll tell you the basics, and we’ll go from there?”

Stiles nodded, and he waited for Derek to start talking.

“Sofia is mine, but she isn’t,” Derek opened, and Stiles narrowed his eyes, because the statement explained exactly nothing. “She’s mine legally, now, but she’s not _mine_ , not by blood. Her pack got caught in a territory dispute when she was one, and the pack I was with in San Francisco was called in to mediate. They brought her back, and she… bonded to me.”

“Like a duckling?” Stiles asked, and Derek’s face scrunched in what almost looked like disgust.

“Not imprinting in a _Twilight_ kind of way,” Derek said firmly, and Stiles smirked, because he was going to bring that up. “She just… I was in the house, she somehow decided that I’m the one who should be taking care of her. She didn’t even let anyone else close for the first few weeks. Eventually, I adopted her, and the paperwork just came through a few months ago.”

“Is that why you’re here? For her?” Stiles asked.

“That too,” Derek admitted, but Stiles already knew there was more to it. “It’s the company too, I meant when I said that with three of you in the area made it logical to open an office here. Sofia needs to be somewhere calm, and Beacon Hills is balanced again now,” Derek said, and Stiles cringed as he thought of what it took to get the town back that way over the years.

“So, why a publishing house?” Stiles asked then, not wanting to lose himself in the bad memories.

He felt the warmth of Derek’s palm against his, and didn’t miss how the hand holding his own tightened at the question. He squeezed back, hoping that it conveyed the reassurance he wanted to give Derek.

“I was studying English before… in New York,” Derek spoke quietly. “Laura made me, at the time, because she said I needed a distraction, and I always loved books, so it made sense. You know I finished my degree after I left Beacon Hills,” he looked up just as Stiles nodded — he didn’t forget that conversation, nor their joint woes of exam horrors. “There was still money left over from the inheritance, and when Boyd was talking to me about what he wrote, I realized that my own publishing house would be better for him than…”

“…throwing him to the wolves?” Stiles finished, a smile tugging on his lips.

Derek laughed, and it took Stiles’ mind for a spin again, because the brightness beneath the stubble was breathtaking.

“Yeah, something like that,” Derek said then, his smirk matching Stiles’. “I’m surprised Lydia didn’t tell you, but there’s probably a plan behind that which I have zero desire to know about.”

“Knowing Lydia, that’s a good call,” Stiles nodded in agreement. Then, after a beat, he took a deep breath and asked the one question that was burning in his mind. “So, who was editing my book then, if it wasn’t only Danny?”

The blush that he’d noticed before on Derek’s cheeks and the tips of his ears got stronger, and Derek’s face dipped down. Stiles could feel the hand in his trembling a little, but just as he was about to say that Derek didn’t need to tell him, the fingers around his own tightened and Derek looked back up to meet Stiles’ eyes.

“Some of it was Danny, but… me,” Derek’s voice was quiet, barely audible to Stiles’ ears. “I’m sorry I let you think it was him.”

“So I’ve been emailing _you_ the whole time, on the AD editor email,” Stiles whispered back, not trusting his voice, as he thought back on the teasing and innuendos in those emails.

“Yeah, I… I wasn’t sure how you’d feel knowing that it was me,” Derek said. “And I didn’t want to… your writing is amazing, _you’re_ amazing, I didn’t want to lose you.”

“As an author? You didn’t want to lose me as Alpha Den’s author?”

He didn’t mean it to come out as a question, but there was a hint of hope in him, a little ‘maybe’ that made him ask instead of resigning himself to truth being what he said out loud. Stiles looked down then, his gaze on their linked hands, and he felt more than he saw Derek stand up and step towards him.

“No,” Derek’s voice reached his ears. “Not just as an author. I didn’t think you’d… I thought you were the way you were because it was Danny… I didn’t think you’d want it to be me.”

Stiles looked up then, and found Derek’s face twisted with hesitation and disappointment.

“You’re an idiot,” slipped past Stiles’ lips before he leaned in and pressed them against Derek’s.

When he pulled away only a beat later, Derek’s eyes were wide open, and his expression gave away his shock.

“I’ve wanted it to be you since high school,” Stiles said with a smile, and that was apparently enough for Derek to smile too, and return the kiss.

**Author's Note:**

>   
> [fic post on tumblr](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/post/136042037359/words-are-all-i-have-sterek-g-ao3-37k-that) | [my fic blog](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/) | [my blog](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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